Summer is finally here and now is the
time of year when every book-related website publishes its own spin on the
beloved “beach read”. Many readers start to look for stories that aren’t too
weighty or serious but still keep their attention. The plots are usually
fast-moving and the ends are often happy.
These books are meant to satisfy and relax but not ruin the good vibes
of your vacation. In theory, this is a
wonderful idea. In practice, I’m terrible at finding good beach reads.
I’ve never been able to master the art of
the beach read. They truly sound
wonderful. I could cross off some titles from my GoodReads yearly challenge
with books that are light and not too difficult to finish. I could actually
relax on the beach with a book! I try. I
really do. Every year, I scour the shelves at the library, looking for titles
that will keep me afloat during the summer months, for books without tortured
main characters or depressing subjects.
Each year, I fail. Sometimes I
end up reading the classics or occasionally a thick, highly involved young
adult fantasy novel. I will give myself
a little credit: at least, my anti-beach reads occasionally set in hot
climates. That is sort of appropriate for summer, right?
At the start of my first summer as a
librarian in Norwood five years ago, I was organizing the school summer reading
books assigned to high school students and noticed “Jane Eyre” was an option for incoming sophomores. I was never
assigned “Jane Eyre” during my own academic career and never really went out of
my way to read anything from the Bronte sisters unless a teacher specifically
directed me to. I grabbed a copy, thinking my summer reading could benefit from
some good writing. Further research indicated that some scholars think “Jane
Eyre” was the prototype for the modern young adult novel, one of my favorite
genres. My interest was piqued and I decided Jane Eyre was going to be my beach
read! Meaning I would read it. At the beach.
I spent the next few sunny days plowing
through “Jane Eyre” at the beach, occasionally taking my iPhone out of its
plastic bag protector and using my newly downloaded dictionary app to look up
the many unknown words I encountered. This is what I mean by failing at the
beach read. People who put together beach read lists do not choose titles that
require a reader to use a dictionary app
in order to fully appreciate the dialogue. Furthermore, “Jane Eyre” takes place
in dark and rainy England. Wild storms and drizzly weather provide the atmospheric setting for this
coming of age story, making it decidedly not very summery. But the story and
characters are so absorbing and compelling that I was not deterred by the
book’s length or dreary setting.
In contrast, last summer’s choice of “Calypso” by David Sedaris had a more appropriate setting.
Like most of his writing, Sedaris includes a number of humorous essays on his
family. The main thread running through Calypso is Sedaris’ impulse buy of a
summer home on the North Carolina shore. He envisions wonderful family holidays
where siblings and their families will gratefully gather and thank him for his
prodigious generosity. They will enjoy
each other’s company and everyone will get along. Sedaris’ dreams are shattered
the minute he announces the purchase to his family and they argue over what
bawdy name they should give the new beach house.
While Sedaris’s essays are funny in a darkly
comic way, his real purpose is the exploration of what means to grow older with
siblings and dealing with the death of a family member. HIs light tone adds a
sense of irony to sad topics he covers, including the mental health issues and
suicide of one of his sisters. Definitely not traditional beach read material.
But Sedaris’s ability to find humor in every day, mundane things show what a
coping mechanism it truly is during life’s difficult patches. He doesn’t shy
away from the hard parts of middle age and relationships but he never leaves
his own character unexamined. Of course, he manages to always find a way to
include himself as one of the targets of his vicious wit.
When I look over my reading history,
especially my summer reading history, I’m forced to realize that I’ll never be
a beach reader. I’ll read at the beach for sure. But if my book past suggests
anything, it's that I just don’t gravitate toward the light and fluffy. Not
that there’s anything wrong with light and fluffy. If you love a good beach read, keep clicking
through all the links for summer’s hottest book lists. But if you are like me,
accept that your reading habits aren’t going to change simply because it’s
summer and keep plowing through your copy of “War and Peace”.
